A vacuum single filer is disclosed in my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 700,748, entitled "Vacuum Single Filer" which was filed Feb. 12, 1985. Cylindrical articles, such as beverage containers are arranged in three rows in contiguous equilateral triangular configuration on a deadplate. The articles are pushed off the deadplate onto a moving belt under which vacuum is drawn to hold the containers in the arrangement in which they are moved off the deadplate. Because of the equilateral triangular configuration, the containers move off the deadplate in a diagonal row with the outermost container furthest forward. The containers are then brought into single file alignment by a deflector which moves the trailing containers into position behind the leading container.
However, if the containers are not in contiguous equilateral configuration as they leave the deadplate, they may become improperly aligned on the vacuum belt so that the leading container is deflected outwardly by the trailing containers to such an extent that it cannot be brought into single file arrangement with the other containers and is discharged over the side of the belt for recycling. It has been found that whenever the containers are out of the contiguous equilateral configuration, the exact positioning of the containers as they leave the deadplate is quite variable and unpredictable resulting in the apparatus not operating at full efficiency.
In single filers in which the containers are supported by air, the bridging of the containers as they are broken down from a mass configuration to single file is a serious problem. Such bridging will stop the flow of containers until the condition can be corrected. Thus, the efficiency and productivity of the system is impaired.